


Sad and Silent Song of a Soldier

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s04e06 Game On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-04-26
Updated: 2003-04-26
Packaged: 2019-05-31 03:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15111203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: "This is why I fight; That's what's worth risking my life for."





	Sad and Silent Song of a Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Sad and Silent Song of a Soldier**  
**by:** Kasey

**Character(s):** Leo  
**Category(s):** POST-EP: Game On  
**Rating:** TEEN  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'em. Don't sue please. Title from Phil Ochs. Thanks to Flip for the beta.  
**Summary:** "This is why I fight; That's what's worth risking my life for."  


Turn the boats around for them? What the hell good is that gonna do? 

They're gonna do this again. Until or unless we show them it's not gonna work ...we've gotta keep blowin' 'em up again every six months when they rebuild like I told the President after the first military action against Syria. We've gotta show them we aren't playin' games. 

We've gotta leave THAT as our legacy. Let THAT be what the next guy inherits so they don't have to mess with the same guys we do. 

Every time we've conquered an enemy, a new one appears. And I dunno who it's gonna be. When I was Mal's age, it was the communists. The evil communist empire - who, by the way, it turns out could barely feed themselves. Now it's the Arab world because we can't tell by looking who's a terrorist and who's not - we dunno who's gonna blow up a pizza parlor. We don't know when, and we don't know how - we don't even really know why - but we know it'll happen. 

So not only do I have to worry about some deranged kid going in and shooting up my daughter's elementary school, I've gotta worry about restaurants she eats in with her mother on Tuesdays and hockey arenas where she picks up strange men I don't approve of. 

I've gotta worry about Sam's bridges and tunnels. Josh's fires and racist extremists. 

Our enemy before had a propagandized face we could identify. How do you know what a terrorist looks like? Not all Arabs are terrorists, nor are all terrorists Arab, so as much as I dislike the idea of profiling in the first place you couldn't even if you wanted to. 

He gave me the Medal of David. And I killed him. 

I killed him by not admitting to what we did. Like the kid in grade school who lets his best friend get sent to the principal because he doesn't speak up and say he threw the rock at the wall, not his friend. 

So we hurt our friends and help our enemies. 

What the hell kind of world is that to leave to our kids? 

What kind of world is that for Mallory to inherit? Sam and Josh, who wanna run the world? President Seaborn's gonna face another enemy, the only question is if he's also gonna have to deal with a rogue Qumar. 

And if Josh will kill his allies by not speaking up. 

This is what I fight for - not the country, not the flag, not some abstract figurehead or word that no one can really define. For them. For my daughter, my sons, and my dear brother in this war. This is why I fight; That's what's worth risking my life for. 

They could start skeet-shooting at us for skeet-shooting their cabinet. 

I could be next. 


End file.
